


The Whitestone House of Bosoms

by Ciwu



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Sex Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 19:25:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9672719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ciwu/pseuds/Ciwu
Summary: The more things change, the more they stay the same.Grog has a conversation with a brothel Madam in Whitestone.





	

It’s not until the third time that Grog goes to the brothel in Whitestone that the Madam who runs the house pulls him aside as he’s leaving.

“I paid up, I know I did,” Grog says immediately. “She counted it out for me and everything.”

The Madam - gray hair but not old enough for it to be anything but just the way most of the adult Whitestone residents are - laughs at him. “You’re fine, lad. You treat my girls right and you pay well. I’m not turning you away. I just had a question for you.”

“Oh,” Grog says with only partial relief. “Yeah sure, I’m great with questions.”

“You’re a friend of Lord de Rolo, aren’t you?”

Grog frowns. “Percy? Has he been comin’ here? I thought he had Vex -”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that,” she hurries to cut him off. “I’ve never seen Lord de Rolo anywhere near here.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, course I’m friends with him.” Grog puffs up his chest at a sudden memory and adds, “He said I’m like a brother to him.”

The Madam smiles at him. “I’m glad. He used to have rather more of those though and that’s what I need to talk to you about?”

“He used to have more friends?”

“Brothers,” she clarifies. “His older brother in particular, Julius. He was the heir before - well. Everything.”

Grog scratches his beard and admits, “Percy don’t talk much about his family. He barely talks about his sister and she’s still breathing.”

“That’s alright. I just need you to listen and give him a message. Would you do that for me?”

“Sure,” Grog says agreeably. “I’m a great listener and a great message… giver?”

“Back before the… the Briarwoods,” the Madam’s eyes dart around as though a vampire might leap out of the shadows at the mere mention of them. “Julius used to visit us on occasion. It wasn’t proper for a young Lord-to-be, but he was charming and polite and he tipped well for our silence, you know? He spent more time with the male options than the female options, but he was ah… equal opportunity, shall we say?”

Grog has never at any point wanted to know about the sexual preferences of Percy’s dead older brother but he nods, hoping she’ll get to the point faster.

“There was a particular girl who worked here that - well, she wasn’t very good at magic but she insisted that she was. She used cantrips instead of herbs, despite all recommendations from the Madam at the time. If I’d been in charge then, I’d have made her take the herbs but that’s neither here nor there.”

“…Which part of this did you want me to tell Percy?”

She takes a deep breath and refocuses. “The girl, Vara, is dead.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it was years ago. She backed the first rebellion, the one that failed. But the reason she backed it is because she wanted a better life for her son.”

Grog isn’t good at math, but even he can add this up.

“I need you to tell Lord de Rolo that I currently have custody of his nephew.”

Grog scrubs his hand over his face and groans. This is like Kaylie all over again.

The Madam misunderstands his groan and says quickly, “I don’t want anything. I’m not asking for hush money from him or Lady de Rolo. I run a profitable business and even in the worst of times, I’ve been able to put food on the table for him. I just thought he ought to know and I’m not sure he’d take an audience from the owner of a brothel.”

“I don’t see why he wouldn’t,” Grog says. Before she can respond, he adds, “Why are you only bringing this up now? Percy’s been back for awhile, yeah? And even if he ain’t always around, Cassandra’s been handling things.”

She sighs. “You’ll have to forgive me but for some of us, it’s been a bit hard learning to trust Lady de Rolo again. I know she’s doing her best but, well, it’s easy for you to trust her when you didn’t spend years watching her stand behind the Briarwoods like their favorite doll.”

“She literally stabbed me in the back,” Grog points out. “Sloppy hit, mind you. She needs more practice with her rapier, but she’s too busy now, I guess. Cass is alright. Weird, but so’s Percy.”

The Madam blinks rapidly, taken aback. “I… see. I, uh -” She shakes her head to clear it. “I had simply wanted to bring it to Lord de Rolo’s attention but with the dragons,” she darts her eyes around like a _dragon_ is going to burst through the window, “he seemed rather busy.”

“So… let me lay this out, right? You want me to go back up to the castle and tell Percy that before his whole family died, his big brother went to a whorehouse a few times, got a girl knocked up, died before anybody knew about it, now the girl’s dead, and the brothel Madam what's been holding onto his nephew only just now decided to mention it?”

She sighs. “I just don’t want the Lord de Rolo to be walking around Whitestone and happen across a little boy who looks like the spitting image of Julius de Rolo and think he’s gone mad.”

Grog snorts.

“No, he really does look just like him.”

“That ain’t what I was laughing about. How old’s the kid?”

“Coming up on six years now. His name is Ashton. He doesn’t know. He knows he’s an orphan but gods, its not like he’s the only one in this town.”

“Fair. Where d’ya live?”

“What?”

“Where do you live?” Grog says more slowly. “Kid ain’t living in here is he?”

“No,” she says, offended, “We live down a few houses. Why?”

“Cuz I’m gonna go tell Percy about this and then I’m gonna have to bring him down here to see, because if you think Percy won’t want anything to do with his brother’s son, you’re fuckin’ mad. He’s gonna come running down here like his arse is on fire. So, y’know, might wanna warn the kid.”

The Madam looks poleaxed. “Ashton’s a bastard. Since when do nobles care about their bastards?”

Grog starts towards the door, shaking his head. “I dunno about most nobles, but Percy’s plannin’ on marrying a bastard so I don’t think he’s inclined to mind it. Anyway, I gotta go. I’ll try to make sure he gets all the yelling out ‘fore we come see the kid. See ya in a bit. Tell Dani I had a good time.”

The Madam calls out after him, “Her name is Rani!” but Grog is already well out of earshot, excited to be the one to tell Percy just how much his old family has in common with his new one.

**Author's Note:**

> I had a bunch of people ask me on Tumblr for a follow up to this fic with Percy meeting the kid but I have no desire to write that. Someone else is free to do so, I just jumped immediately to Julius having a bastard when Matt said he frequented whorehouses.


End file.
